When I feel stressed out about all the world’s woes, I return to Robert Fulghum’s wise words. I came across one of his short essays in All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten [25th Anniversary Edition, 2003, pages 73-74], and his insights brought me back to a more reasonable sense of reality. In the essay called “The Mermaid,” he described being at an event where he was left in charge of about eighty children, seven to ten years old. While “…the parents were off doing parenty things,” he took the children into his church social hall and organized a game he called “Giants, Wizards, and Dwarfs,” which he described as “a large-scale version of Rock, Paper, and Scissors.” It allowed them to run around and be kids for a while, make a lot of noise, and generally tire themselves out. It didn’t really matter which side you were on, or who won. As the children whispered and grouped up, deciding whether they were Giants, Wizards or Dwarfs, he felt a small tug on his pant leg. A small girl looked up and whispered, “Where do the mermaids go?” He realized she was posing a larger question: where do those who don’t fit these categories fit in? He finally responded, “The mermaids stand right here by the King of the Sea!” Wow! Wow! WOW! So he held her hand as they watched the others run around, making a place for her by his side. You will be so uplifted if you read his books! And read his blog! He will astound you. Dude has lived a long time. He’ll be 90 soon, and he is one of the wisest men that I can ever hope to emulate.

So, while I will always continue to worry about my own child and his escapades with adulting, and the life he is making, worrying especially about how he spends his time, choices, his friends, or spending, I will continue to love him for who he is, but more importantly, who he is becoming. I may not always agree with the direction he is going in life, since he doesn’t always agree with me, but we eventually accept who we are. It’s hard being a parent, as you all know. But if we let everyone be who they are, maybe we can breathe a little better and keep loving them unconditionally, without judgment.

“I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dreams are more powerful than facts. That hope always triumphs over experience. That laughter is the only cure for grief. And I believe that love is stronger than death.”—Robert Lee Fulghum

And all I gotta say to the disrespectful grumpy old man who yelled “This is stupid!” to the poor security guard who was just trying to do his job, moving people away from the building, during a fire drill the other day at the Kaiser Permanente building (yes, I was there when we got evacuated) is this: “Go ahead, sit right down next to the building, you idiot!” Maybe if you get blown up or catch fire, it will end your misery. I’m sorry you had a bad day, but for real—people are just ridiculous!

I love you all. Hope springs eternal for all of us out there each day we try to make a difference.